Migrants: Canary Islanders fear impact on tourism
Humanitarian workers take the temperature of migrants who arrived in the Canary Islands on October 20, 2020. REUTERS / Borja Suarez
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2 min
On the island of Gran Canaria, more than 18,000 migrants have arrived since March largely because of the pandemic.
In the municipality of Mogán, which lives almost exclusively on tourism, residents fear that this tragedy will damage their image.
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With our special correspondent in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria,
François Musseau
This Sunday, in Puerto Rico, about a thousand inhabitants marched to protest against the absence of tourists, who support the whole area, and the
presence of sub-Saharan or Moroccan migrants
, housed in ten hotels in the town.
“
Hotels are not reception centers
,” says a banner.
Charo is a waitress in a restaurant.
She is on technical unemployment and she is angry.
His rage is very emotional.
"
Why are immigrants in hotels and we Canarians are starving?
She asks.
Bad image ?
The whole municipality lives almost entirely on tourism with one million visitors per year for 20,000 inhabitants.
Due to the pandemic, the occupancy rate is only 8%.
But the Canarians believe that the fact that 7,000 migrants across the island and hundreds in Puerto Rico are temporarily accommodated in hotels, gives the town a bad image and deters tour operators and visitors.
"
We are asking that the situation be regulated, because the solution given gives our town a bad reputation
," said David Rodriguez, a municipal councilor.
On the island, everyone agrees that migrants cannot stay in hotels forever and that the government should hurry to set up camps, as it has promised.
But at the same time, according to the Federation of Hotels, nothing yet proves that the presence of migrants is an aggravating factor for tourist frequentation.
► To read also: The Canary Islands, new "prison" for migrants from Europe
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